What Makes Us Strong
by Talia Karn
Summary: A year after the current time of IZ, America's government has fallen to crime and violence. Dib discovers an organization that may be able to help him and Gaz through the chaos, but will past hatreds cloud his mind? Completed!
1. Discovery

                                                What Makes Us Strong

Chapter One: Discovery

My first published fanfiction….I'd greatly appreciate reviews.

Disclaimer: All your characters are belong to Jhonen! The idea of 'Rangers' was taken from the RPG Deadlands. Flames will be read and responded to politely.

                Dib walked down the street, wondering if he'd find any food this time.

                How long had it been now? A year? No, not quite. Ten months…maybe eleven. He wasn't sure. There was an old saying, wasn't there. "Time flies when you're having fun." Dib allowed himself a small chuckle at that. 'Fun' wasn't exactly the best word to describe his life. 

                It was a day in March, probably. Gray skies and gray scenery. No people were around—that was good. If people were around, the chance of him finding food and leaving would drop down to zero. If people were around, he'd be lucky to get out of the broken-down neighborhood alive. 

                Eleven months. He was pretty sure of that now. It'd been sometime in April last year when he heard the news. When he'd seen the smoke, the destruction, and the announcement….those few words said by a reporter only seconds before their violent death at the hands of a random criminal. 

                _"America has fallen…"_

                Even now Dib didn't really know what had happened. A few weeks earlier, all the news on TV was about a peace agreement between America and some other country—wait. Not a country, a group. It just happened to be a very _large_ group. Large enough to infiltrate the government and take over, large enough to destroy as many other governments as they could. America was the first. Japan came next, then Switzerland. Then France. After that, his family's TV had been stolen by some street criminals.

                There were a lot of those lately. The group, whatever it was that they had done, managed to break open some maximum-security jails while they were at it. And those people broke open some more prisons, and THOSE people broke down some MORE….in a week, nearly all of America's criminals were on the loose. It was complete and total chaos.

                His city had been pretty much taken over by gangs and psychos. The only reason Dib was still alive was his sister. Gaz didn't participate in the crime spree, but she'd scared away anybody that tried to attack her house. Age and size didn't seem to matter when she was involved. In a world where some ten thousand people can conquer some two billion and counting, what was an eleven-year-old girl against a thirty-year-old maniac? In any case, people tended to stay away from their home. 

                Professor Membrane had left them after the day in April, to go help. Not too long after that, Dib had received a letter in the mail. His father was MIA, presumed dead. Surprising, really, that the government was still able to send those out. 

                Now Dib had to go scrounge for food every once in a while. Gaz wouldn't—somebody had to stay and protect the house. So here he was, trying in vain to find the remainder of a fast food joint or grocery.

                "Damn," he murmured. "Nothing. As usual. I guess I'll go search somewhere else…"

                Dib heard footsteps behind him and turned. A man, probably in his forties, was standing about fifteen feet away. Taking no chances, Dib started running as fast as he could towards home.

                But it was too late. The man tackled him down, pulling out a knife. "Keep quiet, kid, I don't want to have to make this harder than it has to be…."

                "NO! Let me go! Leave me alone! NO!"

                The man grunted and heaved Dib over his shoulder, ignoring the screams. "Just a job, kid, nothing personal. People pay real nice for little things like you. Can't say I like doing it, but the way I figure things, it'd just happen to you sometime anyway."

                "Not if we have anything to do with it. Put the boy down, drop your knife on the floor, and place your hands where I can see them."

                "Huh?" The man turned around to see a girl, wearing a trenchcoat much the same as Dib's with what appeared to be a black cowboy hat. "And what are you going to do about it, little girl?"

                "You are resisting arrest, sir. Do as I say and things will go easier."

                "Think you're cute, eh?" He pressed his knife to Dib's throat, making the boy's eyes widen with fear and horror. "I can slit his little throat and still get a good price, you know. Don't try anything stupid."

                "Two charges of resisting arrest. Sixteen counts of kidnapping and child prostitution. Nine counts of murder. We have been looking for you for a very ling time, Mr. Andrews. If you surrender, then perhaps the judge will be merciful."

                "Judge? What the hell are you talking abou…..oh, shit. Not you guys. Oh, shit, oh, shit…"

                Dib wondered what the man was talking about. That girl seemed a little familiar…

                "Are you ready to give up, Mr. Andrews?"

                "Never! I ain't going down like this, girly, no way and no how…"

                "The judge has sentenced you to execution. May God have mercy on your soul."

                He couldn't see what happened next, but there was a gunshot. Two of them. Then the man holding him crumpled to the ground, red blossoming around his chest and leaking out of his shirt. Dib scrambled to his feet, hyperventilating partly at the sight and partly because of the narrow escape he'd just had.

                "Who are you? Why'd you help me? And where'd you get THOSE?" The girl was holding a still-smoking revolver in each hand, her face calm and impassive. 

                "My weapons were assigned to me at my initiation. It is my job to help innocents in trouble. And my name is Zita. Yours is Dib, correct?"

                "Yeah…" he said nervously. "ZITA? For crying out loud, you're not much older than me! I remember when you were in my class at skool….when we had skool. What are you doing with a pair of revolvers? And what do you mean by 'initiation' and 'job'?"

                Zita sighed, walking closer. "In this chaotic world, the survivors are those smart enough to carry protection. If those survivors can help others learn that important lesson, then all the better. I chose to do my duty as a citizen of America, and take charge of the situation. I am a Ranger. Please, no more questions. Everything will be explained at headquarters. Follow me, please."

                Dib looked around to see if there was the possibility of an ambush, then reluctantly headed after the black-clothed girl.

                She stopped at the entrance to what had formerly been a parking garage. "Ranger Zita, reporting for duty with one confirmed associate by the name of Dib. Request access to command."

                The concrete wall beeped, flickered, and revealed that it had in fact been a hologram. A gray cat with unusually red eyes walked up to them, scanned them over, and motioned them towards the now-apparent elevator. Dib stared. "Hey, isn't that…." "A modified SIR unit, complete with holographic generator. Based on a similar one that I'm sure you know quite well." 

                They stepped into the elevator, the cat pressing a few spots on the inside walls. The doors closed, and the elevator began its descent. 

                It was all Dib could do not to gape at the sight that met his eyes. As the elevator doors opened, a room that could have been used to house a thousand people was revealed. And, indeed, it seemed as though a thousand people were living there. Cots lined the walls, surrounded by desks and shelves. Machines he'd previously seen only in hospitals were there by the dozens, being used to the very limit of their ability on countless wounded. Children, teenagers, adults, and seniors were everywhere. And every one of them stopped to look at him.

                Whispers filled the air. _"It's him, isn't it? The boy! What was his name…Dib. The Wardens are going to flip when they find out…well, they probably already know, considering who's standing next to him. But he's here! He's finally here!"_

                Dib looked nervously at Zita. "They all look like they've been expecting me…how do these people even know I exist? And why are they here? Is this a shelter or something?" Zita merely nodded and led him towards a door near the back. "Questions later, Dib. Right now, there's some people that would like very much to talk to you."

                The door was opened almost immediately by what appeared to be the same cat they'd seen earlier. This one was a little more battered, however, and wore a black collar. The room held a table, a few lamps, six chairs….and three people he'd never expected to see again.

                "Hello again, Dib. I won't bother with introductions, since you know all of us already."

End chapter one! If you didn't catch all the not-so-subtle hints about who these mysterious three people are, then you are officially a banana slug. What that has to do with the matter, I'm not entirely sure. Anyway, like I said above, please review! It'll cheer up my meaningless existence and further prove that the world is not dominated by a giant AI that's out to get me. 


	2. Information

Chapter Two: Information

Woo! I made it to the second chapter! Usually I disband story ideas after a few paragraphs….

Disclaimer: The cast and world of IZ do not belong to me, but this interpretation of how things might go in later years does. I like cherries.

                "KNOW YOU? Of COURSE I know you! You three—well, four, if you count the quiet one—have been the driving forces of my beliefs for the past two and a half years! All of you have tried to kill me at some point, one of you multiple times! The only thing that used to keep me from going crazy over my horrible life was the thought of getting you exposed! What makes you think you can just…just…"

                One of the figures rolled his eyes. "Just what, Dib? Save your life? Prevent you from becoming one of the daily casualties to street crime? Stop you from being just another corpse in an alley after years of being raped and beaten? That IS what would have happened to you if Zita hadn't been in the area, you know…."

                Dib swallowed. As much as he wanted to believe that this was a trick, all the facts said otherwise. None of the people in the shelter had appeared to be there against their will—they'd looked like perfectly normal people, if a little worn. Like the kind that used to be found in homeless shelters, when there were homeless shelters. Zita had seemed to be more focused with punishing the criminal, albeit in a rather spooky way vaguely reminiscent of an old Western. This didn't look like an elaborate trick….it looked like the kind of thing he'd been praying for since that day in April. People standing up for themselves, taking matters into their own hands, bringing justice back and restoring faith to the innocent….

                "Things have changed. Certain….events made me decide to switch my alliance. As hard as it may be to believe, I'm not trying to destroy this planet any more. I'm trying to save it."

                The second figure spoke up, her eyes glinting with a purple light. "What Zim means is that our leaders finally decided to break the whole truth about his 'mission' to him. As it turns out, everything was just a lie. They'd just wanted to get rid of him, so they sent him to a planet they weren't even sure existed. He didn't take it very well, seeing as Invading is essentially all he lives for….to make a long story short, I met up with him at the base and we had a little talk consisting mostly of me pulling various weapons out of his hands. I'm not really sure what happened after I convinced him not to commit suicide, so I'll let Zim speak again."

                Zim raised a nonexistent eyebrow at her, then continued. "Yes….as Tak said, I was in a rather depressed state of mind. Once she left the base, I just sat there for a while until GIR came along. He started babbling about some TV show he'd seen—actually, a TV show he'd been watching that was interrupted. Normally I would have pushed him away and forgotten about it, but this time I let the words sink in. Apparently something very, very bad had happened to the government of this country. I watched the rest of the report, smiling grimly at the irony. It had been my job to destroy this planet, and the humans were doing it on their own in a far more effective manner…." His voice trailed off, old memories stinging once more. Swallowing, Zim took a deep breath and continued talking. "Once the report finished, the TV went back to its regular show. I can't remember exactly what it was about, but it involved a band of people—the Texas Rangers, I think they were called. They were essentially a group of policemen, but stronger, more able to deal out punishment and justice. An organization of thousands backed them up, supporting them with the latest weaponry, cavalry, anything that the group needed and was possible to get, they got. Even then, things weren't in their favor. They may have numbered thousands, but the enemy numbered millions and counting. These 'Rangers' still did the job, though. And, against all odds…..they were winning."

                "It was GIR's suggestion, primarily. He thought it would be 'nifty' if people in the real world did that. I realized that he was right—it was exactly what the world needed. A group of individuals who could do what the 'Rangers' did….protect at any cost, yet with skill and training. Bring the criminals that fill this world to justice while restoring relative peace….."

                "I called Tak  and told her to bring all the equipment and resources she'd need for a full-scale base construction. We built it here, in an abandoned parking garage with a surprisingly large space underneath. The newest Irken technology went into it, creating what you see now….an underground shelter that stretches for miles, doubling as a fortress, research center, training facility, and hideout. Wait, that's more than merely doubling…er…quintupling? Anyway, it took us weeks, but we finally finished it."

                Tak spoke up again, smiling faintly. "Zim and I scoured the city and surrounding areas for people who had seen the horrors enacted in only a few weeks and wanted to end the destruction before everything collapsed. We found quite a few. Some chose to stay in the shelter and be safe, while others chose to become the 'Rangers'. The two of us and our SIRs ended up being the leaders of the whole thing, due to a spontaneous and unexpected election. GIR called our little quad the Wardens, after some other characters in the show. Training our new Rangers began immediately, and those with a technical mind set to work designing new equipment as quickly as they could. A basic idea of how things were run was composed by MiMi, while we sent out recruiters to locate and bring in more people. After a while, everything was set up, and our mission began. I'm sure you have many questions. Now is the time to ask them."

                Dib nodded, and immediately set to doing so. "How'd you get people to follow you? You're ALIENS, for crying out loud! They MUST have noticed that the technology is beyond that of mankind's. I mean, you're not even wearing your disguises anymore!"

                "We didn't need them. The people we found were sick of humanity, disgusted and terrified by the minds of those who could even think of such slaughter. They found it easier to trust somebody that wasn't human, as odd as it sounds."

                "Okay….why are you letting kids do this? Zita's what, thirteen? Twelve? And you're letting her go around in an extremely hazardous situation."

                "Zita has handled herself in an excellent manner, Dib. She's one of our best. As I understand, it was adults that caused all this trouble, correct? Children, then, should have a part in undoing it. If they can prove themselves, then we accept them as Rangers no matter their age."

                "That sounds all right, I guess….what's up with the uniform? A cowboy hat and trenchcoat? Honestly…."

                "It was how the Rangers on GIR's show looked. We had to find some way to distinguish them from everybody else, so that refugees wouldn't get frightened and attack them. This was as good as any other option, plus it seems to genuinely strike fear into the criminals we find so often."

                Dib thought about that for a moment. _Considering how Zita acted before she killed that guy, I'm not surprised they get scared…._ "Last one. Why am I here? Why'd Zita bring me here to you guys?"

                "We wanted to offer you membership into our group, Dib. Whether as a Ranger or a refugee, we'd be honored to have you and your sister here with us. The two of you would fit into our society perfectly….a pair of tried-and-true warriors. Of course, the choice is entirely up to you and Gaz."

                Dib swallowed, knowing that this decision would govern his life from that point on. "Can you guys wait a little for my answer? This is still hitting kind of hard, and I'd like to know a little more about what living in this place is like."

                "Naturally. Zita will show you around the base. When you are ready, you may return to your house and contact Gaz. We'll be expecting a communication stating your two choices by tomorrow."

End chapter two. Ooh, plot development! What'll they choose? Those sentences all had three words! I notice things like that. Reviews, please? I'm just crazy about reviews….or I'm just crazy. Either one sounds good.


	3. A Choice

Chapter Three: A Choice

I do lurid thanky dance at the wonderful people who reviewed! Even if there's only two of them.

Disclaimer: All characters in here and the lurid thanky dance are all property of Jhonen Vasquez. If anybody was insane enough to sue me, they'd get a dollar, because that's all I have.

                "If you have any other questions, feel free to ask me. Sometimes things you forgot to mention pop up later," Zita said as she led Dib down a hallway. "I'm one of the highest-ranking Rangers out there, so I should be able to answer correctly."

                "Actually, there were a couple questions I forgot to ask. The last time I saw Zim and Tak, they were literally out for each other's blood. What made them friends all of a sudden?"

                Zita stayed silent for a moment, motioning Dib through a door. "As far as I can tell, the two must have gotten lonely. Being the only member of your species on a planet can make you like that. I suppose they might have developed a sort of grudging respect for each other….you must admit, they're both quite good at the Invading bit. There were times, correct, when if you hadn't been there Zim would have won? And I'm sure you can remember how well Tak's plan would have worked if she wasn't discovered. They still throw insults and one up each other whenever possible, but they're not having a blood feud anymore. Zim needs Tak's technical design capabilities, Tak needs Zim's equipment. Their goals are, for the moment, the same—not letting humanity destroy itself on its own. After all, it should be one of THEM doing the destroying."

                "Why does that not seem too comforting….anyway, how'd you get involved? I thought most kids my age ended up dead….or worse." 

                "My father's a policeman. He had his gun to protect our family for a while, and after that we just got lucky. When Zim found us, we joined up immediately….my father's a Ranger too, my mother works in the medical lab. The three of us have been working for the Rangers since nearly day one. Ah, here we are—first part of the tour. Ranger's Dormitory. Off-duty Rangers rest here. Private news bulletins go up on the board."

                Dib looked around the long room. It was surprisingly plain, just beds and a huge sheet of cork that probably served as the bulletin board. Several notices were tacked up on the board, saying things like "Aki, report to technology issuing ASAP," or "HOSTAGE NOTICE! ALL RANGERS CONVERGE ON SELANE HOUSEHOLD!". Two other doors stood on the right side of the room, presumably leading to bathrooms. 

                "Off-duty Rangers are rare. We do the job to the full extent of our ability, so sleeping is only for when you're about to drop from exhaustion. When that happens, you activate your standard-issue emergency retrieval unit—the technologists are fond of calling them SERs—and it'll take you back to the base. Follow me, please."

                A few minutes of silent walking led to what seemed to be a cafeteria. "Rangers grab a snack when they're in the base here. Again, they only do so if they're starving."

                "Sounds like a harsh job," muttered Dib as Zita led him further down the hallway. "Oh, yes. Very harsh. We still manage to recruit at least one person from every family we rescue, though. And here we have the training center."

                This room contained around ten recruits, a drillmaster, and exercise equipment. Another plain yet large room, though this one was considerably louder than the past two.

                "ALL RIGHT, RECRUITS! SOUND OFF!" Dib winced at the drillmaster's bellowing. This guy was _loud_. 

                "I DON'T KNOW BUT I'VE BEEN TOLD, BEING A VICTIM'S MIGHTY OLD!"

                "SOUND OFF, ONE TWO! SOUND OFF, THREE FOUR!"

                "TIRED OF THE FEAR AND DANGER? STEP RIGHT UP, BECOME A RANGER!"

                "PUT SOME BACK INTO IT, YOU SLUGS!"

                "Whoa….this is like the army. Recruits don't have it easy, do they?" Zita shook her head. "Nope. Drillmaster Henson's about as tough as they come, and he wants everybody to live up to his standards. Forget that old military stereotype of them being old softies underneath—this guy's a _rock_."

                "Horrible as usual. We treat you too well! Here's Sergeant Bitters for the daily rally. RESPECT HER, YOU SLIME, OR I'LL HAVE YOUR HEAD!"

                "Sergeant…._Bitters_?" Dib gaped in shock.

                "All of you are being given the soft touch….if I had it my way, we'd be whipping all the slackers….but I digress. We're all doomed to die a horrible death at the hands of a street criminal anyway, so there isn't much point in even bothering with this exercise….ahem."

                "None us have a chance, you know. Painful, horrible death awaits you….the odds are overwhelming. Just this year, we've lost twenty-seven Rangers and six miscellaneous others. And _those_ were the _lucky_ ones…."

                "We'll all die here. The enemy forces are simply too powerful. We shouldn't even try to fight it…."

                "But do you know what makes us strong? The fact that _we do it anyway! Against all odds, WE ARE DOING A DAMN GOOD JOB!"_

                Zita gestured Dib out the door. "Let's leave the recruits to their rally. Yes, that's really her. No, she hasn't gone insane. She actually volunteered for the job, and does it quite well. Just one of the reasons so many recruits shoot up through the ranks after their graduation….Sergeant Bitters puts courage in their hearts, though I'm sure she doesn't really mean to."

                The next stop on their tour was a room considerably less plain than the others. Tables and desks covered the floor, half-completed robots and weapons scattered all over them. People ranging from ten to seventy were busily fusing together pieces, typing into computers, logging data into notebooks, loading weapons, programming AI's, directing newly-finished robots around the room….the walls were lined with hung-up tools and circuitboards. Everybody was doing something.

                "This is one of the technology labs. Blueprints are sent here regularly, and the scientists create what's shown on the blueprint using materials supplied by Zim. Most of our standard-issue equipment is made in these labs, so they're very important. They also test new ideas."

                One of the scientists looked up. "Hey, Zita! How's it goin'?"

                "Very well. Please stop asking me that…."

                It was all Dib could do not to wince at the next room. The walls were _white_! Wearing glasses didn't help much with the brightness. It looked(and smelled—the disinfectant was making his eyes water) very much like a hospital. Beds, IV drips, vital monitors, carts of mysterious-looking implements, and nurses filled it. Patients were in most of the beds, sleeping or reading books. Many wore splints or casts, some with bandages wrapped around various parts of their bodies. 

                "This, as you may have guessed, is one of the medical wards. The more serious or infectious cases are sent here, while minor wounds or recovery cases stay in the Commons. Seeing this is, after all, an _infectious_ room, we'd best leave."

                Zita closed the door and motioned Dib around a corner in the hallway. "I should warn you before we enter the next one. It's insane in there—and I mean that literally. We call it the Playground….children play and socialize in there. Based on GIR's remarkable AI design, we've made a line of SIR units more suited for taking care of children, and they're put to full use in there. The GIR v2 units, as they're known, are rather like him, meaning that after an hour or so of their company most humans suffer a chronic case of head explody. Most grown-up humans, that is. Kids are perfectly fine….they actually enjoy it. You've been warned."

                She pulled open the door that led into the Playground, and noise rushed out. Screams of pure joy, sounds that ranged from clanks to bangs to boings ricocheted around, truly crazy songs, and basically insanity filled the air. Dib clapped his hands over his ears, but that didn't help much. While he could still stand it, he glanced around the room. Toys of all kinds were scattered across the floor, playground equipment was everywhere, children were running like mad things, and robots that looked quite a lot like GIR but with a v2 painted on their heads did everything and then some. Zita noticed his intense discomfort, took him out of the room, and slammed the door. The sound was lost in the chaos.

                "Don't say I didn't warn you. That pretty much concludes the tour….there are other places, such as medical labs and weapons training, but those are off-limits due to danger and exposure. I can direct you home, if you wish, or you can stay here for a while longer.

                "I think I'd like to go home now. Say, could I borrow some pizza or something from the cafeteria? I was supposed to be gathering food when you found me."

                "Of course. We've got plenty." Zita reached inside her coat, pulling out something that looked like a thermos. She pushed a button on the top, and it unfolded to reveal a SER unit. 

                "SER, go to the Ranger's cafeteria and request two pizzas and two sodas to be delivered to the doorbot on priority seven."

                "Yes ma'am," the little robot chirped cheerfully, speeding off back the way they came. "She'll have it down there by the time we reach the base entrance. Now, I suggest we get going."

                It was a fairly long walk back to the parking garage, and the food was indeed waiting for them at the hands of the SIR unit guarding the elevator. Dib picked up, waving goodbye to Zita, when she handed him a small package. 

                "This contains a pair of standard-issue lasers for you and Gaz. If you decide not to come with us, then we'd like you to have some protection." "Thanks," Dib replied, as he set off towards home.

                Twenty minutes and three unlucky would-be kidnappers later, he arrived back at his house. Gaz was waiting for him impatiently.

                "Where the hell have you been? I'm hungry." She didn't question where he'd gotten the food or the laser guns.

                "Something pretty strange and really fortunate happened while I was searching, Gaz…."

                After he told her what had happened, she grabbed one of the guns, a pizza, and a soda out of his hands. "Free weapons plus all the pizza you can eat? Of course I'd join. Even if I'd be under the command of those two green losers. Hurry up and let's go."

                Dib hesitated. Gaz's logic was correct, you'd have to be insane to refuse an offer like that. But still….he couldn't quite forget all those past fights and troubles Zim had caused…..

                "Come on, Dib! Don't make me hurt you. Let's get going!"

End chapter three. YAY! Cliffhanger ending! Sort of. Please review, I'll be ever so grateful.


	4. Decisions Made

Chapter Four: Decisions Made

People reviewed! My life now has meaning. 

                "….no. You can go there, Gaz, but I'm staying. I've got a way to defend myself now, so it should be easier to find food. And people won't notice that you're gone for a while. I'll show you the way there, but after that I'm coming back home."

                Gaz stared at him. "Dib, I've always known you were crazy, but not to this extent. So you've got a weapon. The gangs will swarm the house once they find out I've left, and they've got plenty of cannon fodder. Eventually they'll kill you….or worse," she added darkly. 

                Dib shuddered, but stood to his decision. "I'm staying. Come on, I'll get you there."

                At the base, Gaz turned around to face her brother once more. "One last chance, Dib. Is this really the decision you want to make?" 

                "Yes. Uh….Dib reporting, with one confirmed associate by the name of Gaz. Request access to command."

                The hologram flickered and vanished, revealing again the elevator and the MiMi-like robot. It looked over them, apparently scanning their heat signatures. Possibly retinal scans. Who knows? It could have been anything.

                The little SIR unit opened the door, beckoning in Gaz but not, for some reason, Dib. It was almost uncanny how it could judge the situation.

                Dib waved goodbye to his sister, knowing full well that he probably wouldn't see her again.

                She waved back, the faintest traces of sorrow flickering across her face.

                As the elevator door closed, Dib started trudging back to his house. He was all alone now….nobody would be there to talk to him, not that Gaz had done that very much. But still….just having someone there was, in a way, a good feeling. That there's somebody, even if they don't care about you. Just having somebody….

                And now he had no one.

                The walk back to his house was longer and colder than he'd remembered. Strange how the sky seemed to be more gray, and the streets more desolate. Little details he hadn't noticed before stood out, like the stains of long-dried blood decorating so many of the building walls. The sounds of a scuffle made Dib jump, twitch, and instinctively start running….until he saw that it was just a rat fight.

                _Huh. Even animals are affected by all this. I never saw rats fighting before last April, and now I see them practically whenever I go out. Or maybe it just means that they can't find any food, and kill each other for meager shares of stored trash._

                Had it been a year earlier, Dib would have shook the morbid thoughts out of his head. As it was, he didn't bother. Everything else about his life was morbid, so why not his thoughts? That at least made since, unlike anything else. 

                _I should have gone with her. I could save people, I could put away criminals, I could help restore our fractured life….but I didn't. And I don't even know why. Something inside me just screamed that it was WRONG. _

_                I never listened to that voice before, so why now?_

                Once he'd reached his house, he sat quietly and ate a slice of pizza. Then he sat in the darkness(power companies couldn't supply electricity anymore), shivering at the cold. Dib stayed like that for a very long time.

                Days passed. The pizza lasted for a while, but after it was gone, he had to search for something else. This was made easier by the laser gun, though there were still problems. For one thing, he just couldn't find anything edible. Dib searched as far away from his house as he dared, still finding nothing. If it weren't for the fact that Zita dropped by every now and then with as much food as she could carry, he probably would have starved to death.

                Dib stared out his bedroom window, looking up at the stars. _When I was a kid, I always thought the stars held my future. My one dream in life had been to go up there one day, to prove that there was somebody else out there…when I found Zim, I thought that goal was within my grasp. I thought I could expose him and show the world once and for all that I was right! I wanted to save my planet from certain doom, while at the same time get Zim on an autopsy table so he'd never bother us again._

_                Now it turns out that the only certain doom facing Earth is one caused by humanity itself, and the local aliens are the ones trying to STOP that._

                I really, really hate it when I'm wrong about everything.

                Dib's thoughts were interrupted with the sound of a large CRASH outside. He nearly fell backwards, steadying his balance and grabbing the gun. As carefully as he could, Dib peeked down the stairs to see if it was safe. 

                It wasn't. A gang had just broken down the door, and was tearing up the house. Dib's heart abruptly went still. They'd figured out that Gaz was gone much sooner than he thought they would….and now they were here.

                A particularly muscled and tattoo-covered man looked up, noticing him. "Hey! It's the kid! Grab him!"

                Dib ran into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him and readying his weapon. Maybe if they could only come in one or two at a time, he'd stand a chance….

                Loud footsteps pounded up the stairs, and the door was knocked down in an instant. A seemingly endless line of criminals faced him, all determined to be the one that caught the boy they'd been looking for ever since their first defeat at the hands of Gaz. 

                Firing the gun, Dib managed to knock down the first rush mobbing him. They fell to the ground, gasping for breath and clutching vicious burns that seeped blood. Dib even hit some in the second rush, but then…

                He aimed the laser gun and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. There was just a clicking sound that stood out amongst all the noise. Dib stared down at it, sheer terror filling his mind. The gun was overcharged, it wouldn't be able to fire for at least another hour.

                As the mob overwhelmed him, the last thought he had before everything went black was that the little voice inside him was laughing.

End chapter four! Sorry for the lack of updating, school leaves me little time. This chapter's short, isn't it? And cliffhanger-y. But you won't get to find out what happens until I finish the next(and probably last) chapter! HAHAHAHAHA! 

….well, it might not be that long of a wait. I've got the whole storyline plotted out, I just need to get it down on Word. 'Till next chapter, folks, and any reviews will send me into my happy place!


	5. The Consequences

Chapter Five: The Consequences….

Oog….this is taking too long. Sorry for the wait, but I have story ideas invading my mind. I can't write them all down or I'll lose this one before it's finished…gah. Shinra, I'm glad to see that you enjoy my story so much ^_^ I really didn't think anybody would. Reviews make my day, and I'm very happy that some people took the time out of theirs to comment on my admittedly rather typical and un-innovative story. Thank you all, and let's get on with the show's grand finale!

Disclaimer: zeeble zeeble zeeble.

                Zita stopped in the middle of her walk when she saw the door of Dib's house cast aside in the lawn. It was plain to see that something had happened here, something _very bad._ Dropping her bundles of food, she raced into the house. All the rooms were empty….running up the stairs, she saw another door knocked off its hinges. It appeared to have been holding a bedroom, as messed up and generally trashed as the entrance had been. Bloodstains covered the floor, confirming her worst fears.

                "Oh, SHIT," Zita whispered under her breath, adding a swear word that I can't write if I want to maintain the rating. She flipped back the cuff of her trenchcoat, revealing a small flat monitor that went around her wrist. After a few buttons were pressed in a seemingly random order, the screen went into static for several seconds which then fizzed away to show Zim's face.

                "What is it? I don't have time for anything less than a full scale multiple-charge trial and evacuation, Zita, so make whatever you've got to tell me quick."

                Zita's face went grim. "And if it IS a full scale multiple-charge trial and evacuation?"

                "….if you don't tell me exactly what happened then I'll put you on stakeout duty for the next year."

                "Dib's been taken. By the looks of it, a whole gang showed up…one of the better ones, too. There's blood all over the floor of his bedroom, two doors have been smashed in, and I noticed a good streak of laser fire charring one of the walls. From what I can tell, this happened maybe two days ago. Get Tak to check that database of hers—I'm sending a fingerprint I caught on the floor through the com."

                "I'll be right on it. Stay where you are." The com screen flickered, then went black. Zita flipped the cuff back over it, then knelt down to examine the bloodstains.

                "Oh, Dib…..it's all my fault….I should have checked the warranty on that stupid weapon. Some of the early models just can't handle more than twenty rounds of charge before they go completely kaput…."

                She sighed, straightening up. All she could do now was wait for Tak to call her back on the com with what little data they could scrounge off the database.

                "Speak of the Devil," Zita murmured as her wrist started beeping. On the com screen, Tak's face appeared, looking extremely concerned.

                "I got some information on the fingerprint, Zita. It belongs to a member of the Snakes, one of the most heavily muscled gangs out there. He escaped after killing a Ranger…adding to charges of theft, murder, arson, rape….the usual. Last time we sent in a Ranger, they were based at the old skool building. Do not, I repeat, do NOT go there. The Snakes are number three on our list of 'unbeatables'. Without backup, you're doomed. No heroism! We absolutely FORBID heroism! Drama never gets you anywhere…"

                Zita's face hardened, and she started moving towards the door—er, big empty hole. "With all due respect, Tak, heroism saves lives. We don't have time for backup. It's been at least two days. There's a pretty good chance I'm too late anyway. You know what happens when people get kidnapped by the gangs, Tak…." She turned off the com.

                Back at the base, Tak sighed. Drama. If the Rangers had a weakness, it was drama.

                Dib moaned, weakly fluttering his eyes open. Where…oh. Here. Not a very good place to be, seeing as 'here' meant 'tied to a chair that's nailed down to the floor in the middle of a very dark room with one light shining down right on your eyes and a man that's SMILING at you. SMILING. Certain death awaits you when strange people smile like that'. 

                "Good. We were wondering when you'd wake up. Shall we proceed with the interrogation, or go straight ahead to the revenge? Perhaps you'd like to start at the end, beginning with the horrifying discovery and working backwards."

                He blinked, partly because of the light, but partly because of the dialogue. "Um. Er….let's start with the horrifying discovery, then interrogation, then revenge. I guess…"

                "An excellent choice. Very well, then. Welcome to the Snakes. Your infernal sister is one of the banes of our thugs, and since she's completely impossible to capture, we've decided to settle for you instead. Before we let those who have been slighted by your sister, heh, have their way with you…we'd like to force you to tell us everything you know about the Rangers, since you've obviously been in contact with them. And before that, it has been decided that we'll crush your little spirit completely and utterly by showing you what really happened to your father."

                Dib tried to make sense of his muddled thoughts, translating what the man had said. "My father?…he's dead. He—no, he isn't, is he. You wouldn't smile like that unless you know something I don't."

                The man laughed. "Perceptive little boy! Yes. Your father is very much alive. And…here he is!"

                From behind the shadows stepped none other than Professor Membrane, looking worn and weary. He did a double take when he saw Dib—had he not been expecting to see his son there?

                "I'll let you two get reacquainted before the interrogation. I'm sure he has _many_ things to tell you…."

                As the man stepped away, Professor Membrane drew closer, kneeling down to look at his son.

                "Dad….I won't ask you how, I'm asking you _why._ All those months I thought you had died. How come you never told me that you were still alive? Why didn't you ever come back?"

                Professor Membrane sighed, ruffling his son's hair. "I wanted to see you and Gaz again so badly…if I'd ever had the chance, I would have come home like a shot. But I couldn't. When I was helping out what remained of our government, inventing things that would have helped us regain some semblance of a law, there was….an attack. The Snakes won—they had more weapons than we did, they had more people than we did, they had everything going for them and we didn't. My group was captured, everybody else was executed. 

                "We were given a chance to join the Snakes. They offered us a comfortable home, access rights to their supplies, all the member benefits….and, of course, our lives. Everybody in my group firmly refused, and were publicly shot. But I didn't. I wanted to live. I joined…."

                Dib pulled his head back from his father, anger and betrayal filling his face. "You joined them. You joined a _gang._ You help them kill innocents, you actually…"

                "Dib, you don't understand, they would have killed _me_— "

                "And you should have let them! Now you're no better than they are, _father_." Dib spat out the last word as if it was something unpleasant.

                Professor Membrane pulled back, visibly affected by the pure hate in his son's eyes. "I….it's just….they…"

                "Go away," said Dib harshly. "I don't want to have to look at you any longer."

                The man stepped out of the shadows, clapping. "Bravo, Membrane. You succeeded in making your only son wish you were dead. Now, don't you have some inventions to work on?" Quietly and dispiritedly, Dib's father moved towards the shadows of the room. Momentarily, the sound of a door being opened and shut was heard.

                "You know, you're quite a feisty little boy. Some of the men are going to have _fun_ with you. But your father is right, you know. It's in your best interest to join up. You can tell us all you know willingly. We'll still let those who want revenge exact it upon you, but we won't let them kill you. And after that, we'd let you have all the benefits of a member of our little group. Just answer the questions peacefully. That's all you have to do."

                The fire in Dib's eyes grew tenfold. "Go to hell."

                The man shrugged. "As you wish. Veitch, it's your turn."

                Another man stepped out from the shadows, carrying a syringe in one hand and what looked like a long metal stick in the other. He smiled in a way that made shivers go down Dib's spine—to heck with stoic bravery, _this_ was _scary_.

                He walked up to the chair, scanning Dib with his eyes. "Hmmm….yes. I'd imagine you're about, say, five foot three? 90 pounds, or thereabouts? That sounds fairly accurate. So….there." His fingers clicked against the metal, causing it to extend several inches. A small blade shot out of the tip. 

                "Right, then." Veitch stabbed the syringe into Dib's arm, causing him to wince. "Ten, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one….it should be working now….so, Dib. What do you know about the Rangers? Any locations or weaknesses would be particularly helpful."

                Dib's eyes flickered, and he slumped forward in the chair. His mind was clouded by a gray haze. Dimly, he could hear Veitch's words. _Sure…I'll tell…no reason not to…_ A nagging little voice spoke up in the back of his thoughts. _Oh no you don't. There's plenty of reasons not to. WAKE UP!_

                His head jerked up again, and he snarled. "Nice try." Veitch looked faintly surprised, and glanced down at the quarter-empty syringe. "Perhaps I misjudged your weight." Injecting the remaining serum, he counted to ten once more, then repeated the question.

                The little voice inside Dib's mind was joined by another. _Give it up! Tell him everything! Offer to help him with anything he needs! _ But the first one didn't seem to like that very much, as evidenced by the sharp tones in its next words. _Don't listen to that little traitor. Now, all you have to do is keep quiet and think about something. Anything will do, but don't talk at all or you'll reveal more than you want to._

                Dib kept silent. The second voice had been the one laughing at him just before he was captured…it was probably a good thing not to listen to it. The fact that he was hearing a pair of voices in his head didn't bother him. After all, he'd been in two or three minds about something before—usually in deciding what to do about the way events played out in his life. The giant hamster accident, for example. Or when he'd first met Tak.

                "What a shame. Now I've got to interrogate you properly, instead of using a pathetic useless 'truth serum'." Veitch raised the bladed end of the stick-thing, pulling out the syringe with his other hand. In a sudden movement, he shoved it into Dib's arm and twisted it carefully, clicking his fingers against the metal again.

Dib screamed, long and loud. The pain….he'd been stabbed before, but it hadn't felt anything like this. Both of the voices in his head screamed along with him—one in fear, the other in displeasure that things weren't going in accordance to the plan.

                Zita halted, fifteen feet away from the old skool building. She looked it over, a flood of past memories coming back. Memories of a happier time, when life was so much simpler…

                She shook her head, and opened up the com link again. "Tak. It's me. How's the backup coming?"

                "Just fine. They should be at your present location in ten minutes or so. I suppose it's useless telling you that you're going to die if you go in there, and ask you to wait just a little longer?"

                "Yep. Completely useless. Tell my family that I loved them. Bye, Tak."

                Zita clicked off the com, pulling out her twin pistols. She straightened her hat, gazed up at the bleak sky one last time, and readied her weapons.

                "Let's do some good," were her last words, as she kicked down the entrance doors.

                At first, she had the element of surprise. For a few precious seconds, the gangmembers in the first room were off their guard. A few seconds was all she needed. Ten men fell down with nasty gaping holes in their heads, and three more hit the ground with blood pumping out of their jugular veins. Reload. Aim. Fire.

                Six shots. Six more men. And another seven went down. Reload. Aim. Fire.

                By now, goons were pouring in through all the doors, hefting their weapons and aiming guns. Those with projectiles went down first—thirteen of them. Reload. Aim. Fire.

                In total, seventy-nine Snakes died at her first assault. Zita's ranger training had taken over completely. Luck and skill were on her side as she raced into the next room, pistols blazing. Thirteen more, and thirteen more. One hundred five men down, in the space of just a few minutes.

                The next room was larger, hundreds filled the space, all armed with projectiles. Zita ducked and rolled to avoid the hail of gunfire, blasting six shots into a wall and kicking it through for an escape route. 

                She blinked at the sudden darkness. Her eyes adjusted quickly to the lack of light, however, and she was able to narrowly dodge a sudden stab at her in time. Glancing over to the center of the room, Zita saw a familiar figure tied to a chair.

                More dodging. _Good thing I spent all that time in the training room_, she thought. Springing up behind the chair, Zita shot a hole through the ropes. "Get up and run, NOW! MOVE IT!"

                A shot hit her straight in the head, and she knew no more.

                Dib stared at Zita's body, but broke out of his shock before he could get captured again. Weaving underneath the grabbing hands, he raced down the path Zita had taken, following the line of bodies. Freedom awaited him, just outside that gaping hole in the building…..

                The Snakes chased him, naturally, but none was quite as fast was Dib. Whether due to luck or to fate, he couldn't tell, but he crashed right into no less than a dozen fully armed Rangers. 

                All was still for a moment, then gunfire and laser blasts filled the air. Two Rangers fell. That was little compared to the enemy's casualties, however. A few stragglers stood transfixed at the gory sight, then were mowed down by a hail of bullets.

                One of the Rangers helped Dib to his feet. "Come on. We're just lucky that the Snakes haven't deployed their full forces yet, so get a move on before they do!"

                It wasn't until they'd reached the elevator and were safely inside that Dib collapsed from the sheer pain of the interrogation implement still stuck in his arm.

One day later….

                Dib woke up in a hospital bed, people nervously buzzing around him. "You're awake! The Wardens want to talk with you right away." He jumped out of the bed immediately, remembering what had happened.

                In the now-familiar 'council' room sat everyone he'd seen there before—except Zita. A pang rose up in his heart, and he swallowed at the memory of her death. No dramatic sacrifice scene had awaited her. Just a lucky shot.

                "Dib, I'm sure you know why you're here right now. The Snakes are still at large, there isn't anything we can do about that for a while. Zita's SER unit managed to bring her body back to us, at least."

                There was an uncomfortable silence for several minutes, then Tak spoke up. "We'd like to ask you to join us again, Dib. Your sister is waiting for you in the training room, since you seem to have recovered from the blade's chemical injection."

                Another long silence, and then:

                "Yes. I'll join." There was absolutely no emotion in Dib's voice.

EPILOGUE

                Dib stared up at the ceiling of the training dormitory. His sister slumbered quietly in the bed next to him. It had been a few weeks since he'd officially become a Ranger-in-training, and he still felt the quiet emptiness inside him. The voices were gone now, or at least they'd stopped talking. 

                He turned over on his side to look at his sister, sleeping peacefully. She hadn't really needed the training. Yet for some reason, Gaz worked and trained along with him. Perhaps it was out of love, or perhaps out of loyalty. Neither seemed to be particularly in-character of her. 

                Dib's thoughts turned to the other side of his family. Professor Membrane was still out there. All he needed was one chance, one final showdown, one last meeting with his 'father'…to avenge Zita…

                As he drifted off to sleep, Dib remembered the words of Sergeant Bitters. _"But do you know what makes us strong? The fact that WE DO IT ANYWAY!"_ That was what Zita had dedicated herself to. Helping out, ignoring the odds….

                What makes us strong….

                                                                THE END

Whoo! It's finally over. Thank you all for reading my story! If there's anybody out there that's insane enough to want to thank ME(and you would have to be insane, considering the quality of the story) then a picture of Zita just before she entered the skool building with her pistols ready would make me break out in a spasm of joy. 

If you enjoyed _What Makes Us Strong_, keep an eye out for my next story, which will be something completely different and mostly made up of fancharacters.  


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